Stunner: Cam Newton named AP player of the year

Posted by John Taylor on December 22, 2010, 4:16 PM EST

Didn’t see that one coming, eh?

Following a prolific regular season that ended with him holding the Heisman and his team grabbing a spot in the national title game, Auburn quarterback Cam Newton has been honored by the Associated Press as their Player of the Year.

According to the AP, Newton received 51 of 60 votes. Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore received three, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck got two and four ballots went unreturned.

From Auburn’s release announcing the latest award bestowed upon Newton:

Newton became one of just three players in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to accumulate at least 20 rushing and 20 passing touchdowns in a season, and became the first player in SEC history and one of nine players in FBS history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.

Newton passed for an Auburn single-season record 28 touchdowns, rushed for an Auburn single-season record 20 scores and had a touchdown reception. He accounted for at least four touchdowns in eight different games this season, and his 20 rushing touchdowns are second most in a single season in SEC history.

In addition to the Heisman and AP honors, he has also received the Davey O’Brien and Maxwell awards this month, as well as first-team nods on several major All-American teams.

Meanwhile at K State … a store clerk gives a basketball player a couple of extra t-shirts and it earns him an NCAA suspension.

This is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in sports. Nothing against Cam personally. But for the NCAA to punish and suspend other players for incidental infractions while continuing to show favoritism to Auburn solely because of the money involved is sick. And I don’t mean “sick” in a good way. It’s time for reputable schools to start pulling out of this farce of an organization.